California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is proposing to add nine new industrial-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) with nearly 1.6GW of total capacity to its network to further integrate renewables resources and improve reliability of the state’s electricity system.
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If the public utilities commission (PUC) approves this round of procurement, PG&E would have BESS capacity of more than 3.3GW by 2024, the most for any US power company.
“As we work year-round to strengthen our electric system, we are also planning, engineering, and building the grid for a future that harnesses the power of solar plus storage on an unprecedented scale,” said Joe Bentley, senior vice president of electric engineering at PG&E.
The planned BESS facilities would provide energy and ancillary service – such as serving as an operating reserve to help provide enough energy supply to meet demand – to the grid controlled by California Independent System Operator (CAISO).
All feature lithium-ion (li-ion) technology and each will have four-hour discharge duration. PG&E has executed 15-year resource adequacy agreements with each project.
CAISO, a non-profit, manages the flow of electricity across the high-voltage, long-distance power lines for the grid servicing 80% of California and a small part of Nevada.
Contractor Terra-Gen, headquartered in New York City, will build three of the nine projects: Sanborn, 169MW in Mojave; Beaumont, 100MW in Beaumont; and Canyon Country, 80MW in Santa Clara.
A subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources based in Florida will build two projects: Kola Energy Storage, 275MW in Tracy, and Corby Energy Storage, 125MW in Kirbyville.
Dallas-based Vistra Corporation will build the Moss350 energy storage project, the largest (350MW) in Moss Landing. A subsidiary of Strata Clean Energy with headquarters in North Carolina will build Inland Empire Storage (100MW) in Rialto.
The other two projects are Nighthawk, 300MW in Poway, to developed by Arevon Energy based in Arizona, and Caballero, 99.7MW in Nipomo, being built by a subsidiary of Origis based in Miami.
Last June, the PUC directed all load-serving entities in California to collectively procure 11.5GW of new electricity resources that would come online between 2023 and 2026 to support the state’s greenhouse gas reduction policy, and to replace retiring natural gas and nuclear plants.
